Expensive Prank, Heartfelt Memories
by Eria
Summary: Short Story. Takashi was just going to have a soak, but somehow he destroys more of his foster parents' property! A drunken Nyanko-sensei is to blame.


_**Author's notes**: This was part of a Valentine's prompt I did for someone. Hope you like it. Lolz._

_**Warnings**: Destruction. Drunkenness. Language.  
_

* * *

Natsume knew something was fishy when he poured bath salts into the water for his bath and bubbles formed. Mostly, he shrugged it off as unimportant, and besides the scent wasn't overwhelmingly floral and the water didn't seem oddly discolored. He would have to drain the tub and give it a good rinse-down before his caretakers had a fit about the mess. At any rate, with how hectic his life was, if he was going to freak out over some bubbles, it wouldn't be because they were floating in giant mounds around his head, giving off an earthy smell.

"Na~tsu~me~ :hic:"

The aforementioned teen looked around for the source of the drunken voice, but his haphazard protector was nowhere to be seen. "Go away. Nyanko-sensei. I told you I don't like you around while I'm bathing. Especially when you're drunk."

The water sloshed around in the cramped tub, bubble towers collapsing over the edge. Reflexively, Natsume pulled up his knees but kept them open in case he needed to stand up quickly and run; he was unnerved at the moment, but he was never sure if that was going to last with his kind of life. "Nyanko-sensei, quit playing around."

Suddenly the smiling face of the lucky cat statue jumped up between his legs and headbutted him. Natsume fell back with a curse, clutching his forehead as the pot-bellied cat perched on his chest and laughed, ":hic: Nyaaahanhanhan~ I got you! :hic:"

"DAMNIT, SENSEI!" He lashed out, punching the red-faced cat square in the face and sending him flying, regrettably, through the glass door separating the dressing room connected to the bath from the living areas. It shattered on impact and, of course, Touko-san's voice rang out in grave concern. "Takashi-kun! Are you alright? Takashi-kun?"

"I'm... I'm fine," he managed weakly as he pulled back his hand from his throbbing forehead to check if he was bleeding and was glad he wasn't. It'd be one less thing he'd have to explain away.

The door slid open and she peered through the broken opening, looking around for anything that might have hit it so forcefully, but saw nothing and frowned a bit. Then she shook her head slightly as if to clear it of confusing observations; obviously, if he had thrown something, she should have seen _something_ incriminating. "Takashi-kun, are you really alright in there?"

"Yes, Touko-san. The breaking door startled me, and I slipped and knocked my head hard on the edge of the bathtub," he lied easily, pointing at his forehead. "I'm sorry. I'll pay for the door as quickly as I can."

"No, don't worry yourself with that." She stooped to pick up the largest pieces of glass, delicately placing them in the container she had brought in just for this purpose, wishing that her husband had been able to make it home from his business trip. "Stay in there and soak, while I clean this up. We'll discuss how often you can make bubble baths for yourself later."

He knew better than to argue, and by the time his hands and feet were pruney she had finished vacuuming the floor of any microscopic slivers of glass. She had dried off the washing stool and placed his dry, clean clothes he typically wore to bed on it along with his slippers, 'just in case' she had said with a tired smile before leaving through the empty door frame, lined with shards of jagged glass.

The sigh that passed his mouth was bone-weary, and his head was beginning to ache though even now it was starting to fade.

After slipping on his clothes, he carefully ducked through the frame, mindful of his hands, feet, and elbows, knowing full well that the animated statue-lookalike couldn't be far off.

He sighed when he found the drunkard under heaps of clothes in the un-lidded, large hamper basket across from the broken door in the closet, sleeping the alcohol off.

Picking him up and carrying him under an arm, supported by the other, Natsume took Nyanko-sensei upstairs lest Touko-san came across the cat snoozing while she did the laundry that she did every day.

He dropped his protector roughly on the cat bed his caretakers had given to him, turning to reach for the closet that held his sleeping pallet, and was surprised that his futon was already rolled out. Mentally thanking Touko-san, he crawled in and drew the covers up over himself. Despite the thumping his skull had received, it was with little effort that he fell into a deep, heavy sleep. Because of that, he was unaware that Touko-san had checked on him twice more, before she too retired for the night.

* * *

"Natsume. Water. Get me some water," the voice moaned piteously.

"Crawl to the sink yourself. I'm busy." The blond flipped through the newspaper, circling part-time job vacancies.

"Natsuuumeeh, I don't have any opposable thuuumbs," the voice groaned unhappily.

"Then crawl to the river and drown yourself. You broke a door that was worth over 60,000 yen; I've got to figure out how to pay them back, and you aren't helping any!" He studiously picked over his choices, gritting his teeth, automatically slimming them down due to feasibility since he didn't even own a bicycle. He had already trashed a room before, and Shigeru-san's job didn't pay _that_ well.

The groggy voice fell into a sullen silence, slipping through the partly opened door to head to his water dish sitting in the kitchen downstairs. Tilting his head to guzzle down the water in the large bowl, he 'nyaah'ed a greeting at Touko-san, who was talking with quiet worry into the phone; she did spare a hand to wave 'hello' to him though her conversation didn't skip a beat. "I don't know what exactly broke it. Before we had to replace everything in his room from that time, I found he had repaired two holes in the sliding doors of his closet... It's really strange how things break around him, isn't it?" She paused listening to the other end and smiled. "Yes, our charge is safe. None of the glass hit him. More importantly, did you know he liked bubble baths, dear? I told him we'd talk it over with him, since we are on a budget, and such luxuries should only be taken every once in awhile with a water bill to contend with ever since the unplanned remodeling..."

Feeling completely unrepentant for property damage, Madara grinned at a job well done. _That unhelpful Natsume will thank me later._

**End.**


End file.
